Holiday shopping can be overwhelming and now we are right in the thick of it. The clock is running, and it seems like you will need more cash than ever to get all the shopping on your list this year. On Black Friday 2017, American holiday shoppers spent a record $5 billion in 24 hours, just online, a 16.9% increase in dollars spent online compared with Black Friday 2016, according to data from Adobe Digital Insights.

So the pressure to spend and yet need to save money on holiday shopping is well and truly on - so here are some tips to try and make your holiday shopping a little less painful.

How Much Is Spent On Christmas Shopping Each Year?

The statistics are staggering – Christmas is now a multi-cultural phenomenon, celebrated by many non-Christians, and only 5% of people surveyed by Statista in 2016 indicated that they would not be celebrating the holiday, with 2.04 Billion dollars spent just on Christmas trees! The online trend continues to grow, with Americans’ online spending reaching $5 billion on Black Friday 2017, and projections of $6 billion being spent online on Cyber Monday.

How Can You Reduce Your Holiday Spending and Yet Still Buy Nice Gifts?

In general, you can change the way you think about gift-giving. The spirit of the holidays is to give, but that can mean more than just about how expensive your gift id, or whether it is the latest shiny tech gadget or smartphone. A the old saying goes, ‘it is the thought that counts’, it is not how little the gift costs, what matters is the feeling or thoughtfulness behind it.

In fact, back in 2008, researchers from Stanford University concluded in several studies that while gift givers assume that expensive gifts will be better received, the recipients do not place more good feelings on expensive gifts as much as the giver may think. “You simply don’t have to spend that extra hundred dollars to get the same level of appreciation for a gift,” said co-researcher Gabrielle Adams, then a doctoral student in organizational behavior at Stanford GSB. The other interesting fact is that givers are likely to spend $100 on a gift that receivers would only spend $80 if they were buying it for themselves.

Of course we all have had those times when we just want to make our loved ones feel extra special, and so you may just want to click here to see how you can get quick cash so that you can get that special expensive item that they have just hankered after for such a long-time. But don’t panic if you cannot afford that big-ticket item – everyone is in the same financial boat in these troubled times, and you should always have a careful think about what the person you are buying a gift for would really appreciate, not just the price.

Try These Ways To Save Money On Your Holiday Shopping

Make A Budget In Advance

It can be a really boring task, but a little pain spent putting an a fordable budget now will save you a whole load of greater pain when the credit card bills come pouring in in January if you do not. Budgets may be an annoying little administrative task, but they’re also the reason your credit card bill will stay relatively manageable come January. And while your first instinct might be to rush out and hastily get your holiday shopping out of the way, that’s precisely how overspending occurs. A detailed budget is the very first thing you should create.

Put A Shopping List Together Before You Go Shopping

You’ll save masses of time in the crowds, and avoid making rash purchase when you feel frustrated or tired because you have spent ages meandering around aimlessly and just want to get the shopping over and done with!

Research Online For Gift Guides and Coupons

Use online research to check gift buying guides and special offers before you go to the stores if you are not buying online, and if you can use store pickup, then do it. Stores like Sears have a 5-minute pickup maximum wait time limit for picking up items purchased on line and shipped to store. Doing your research can also turn a high priced gift into something more affordable by using promo codes like a Coach discount code.

Coupons

Yes, that pesky internet that we cannot do without can easily locate special offers, coupons and discounted items with free shipping straight to your home – after all, there is nothing wrong with saving gas, time, and hassle to get the same gift that you would be far more expensive in the store. You’ll wrap the gifts exactly the same way and your recipient will never know!

Smartphone

If you just love brick and mortar store shopping, use your smartphone to check prices via apps and to join store discounts schemes

Cash Is King

Finally! There is one method of cutting your spending, that although tried and tested for generations, and has been overlooked by almost everyone in these modern times – only use cash!

If you go to the store with $500 in cash (your budget), then go to the checkout and find that your bill is $525, you are likely to use your credit card to pay the $25 difference, rhater than take items out and feel embarrssed, right? But if you only have cash with you, you are very likely to have made a list and add up your items with a calculator adding everything up as you go, and far more likely to only purchase the items you really need within your budget.

So use sound judgment, do your research and remember the true meaning of the gift of giving and you might turn those shopping blues into joy this holiday season!